Blast from the past

Serena Williams gets her life back on track and stuns her Russian rival with a merciless 6-1 6-2 triumph

Finally, after years of ambiguity and doubt, Serena Williams scored an amazing emotional victory to win the Australian Open, obliterating Maria Sharapova. Her performance didn't just prove that she remains potentially the most formidable force in women's tennis, it also provided an insight into the true workings of the sport's most mysterious family.

Thus far into their careers - 13 Grand Slam titles and counting - nobody had been allowed into the private world of the Williams sisters. That was the way it had always been, that's the way they liked it. At last the doors opened after a 6-1 6-2 show of determination, power and passion that eclipsed anything the former world No 1 had previously achieved.

The win was violent to behold. Serena snarled, shouted and repeatedly pumped her fist throughout the 63 minutes of torture she inflicted on the top-seeded Sharapova. But in the end she shed tears of